Built on the LDN sprinkler platform, the Dynamic Drive features easy-clean UP3 nozzles and a modular design that makes maintenance easier and more economical. This versatile design lets growers change the sprinkler's deflector and extend the product's life by replacing the primary wear components.

The Dynamic Drive's advanced brake technology, used since 2002 in Senninger’s solid set product line, offers the optimum control and consistency needed for a wide, uniform application.

Available in two models based on desired pressure, the Dynamic Drive is available in a high-pressure model and a low-pressure model. Both models feature a complete nozzle range spanning from a #6 nozzle up to a #26 nozzle. That means growers can install one sprinkler model and one pressure regulator model across an entire machine, depending on their selected operating pressure.

With a large diameter of coverage that reaches up to 70 feet in diameter, a modular design, and an expansive flow and pressure range, the LDN Dynamic Drive is an economical irrigation solution that doesn't sacrifice the high performance that makes Senninger products stand out.

About SenningerAs a member of the Hunter Industries family of companies, Senninger Irrigation is a leading designer and manufacturer of premier irrigation solutions for agricultural, horticultural, and industrial applications. With more than 55 years of experience in dozens of countries worldwide, Senninger is one of the most trusted names in the agricultural irrigation industry.

About Hunter IndustriesFounded in 1981, Hunter Industries is a family-owned, global manufacturer of products for the irrigation, landscape lighting, dispensing technology, and custom manufacturing sectors. Hunter’s core mission will always remain the same: to deliver valued products and services, grow the company conscientiously, and remain true to the culture that makes our employees proud to work at Hunter.

]]>Limagrain provides wheat variety updatehttp://www.capitalpress.com/Profit/20181119/limagrain-provides-wheat-variety-update
http://www.capitalpress.com/Profit/20181119/limagrain-provides-wheat-variety-update#CommentsMon, 19 Nov 2018 11:21:07 -0500George Plaven
http://www.capitalpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2018181119900PORTLAND — Limagrain Cereal Seeds, an international agricultural cooperative and fourth-largest seed company in the world, will launch a new line of wheat varieties developed in partnership with the University of Idaho in 2019.

Named “Varsity Idaho,” the line will debut with two as yet unnamed soft white wheat selections, company executives revealed Nov. 16 at the Tri-State Grain Growers Convention in Portland.

“These will be essentially the launch of a new brand in the Pacific Northwest,” said Zach Gaines, national sales and marketing manager for Limagrain. “This is going to be one of the big things we’re talking about this summer.”

Started in France, Limagrain has only been in the U.S. for eight years, yet commands 35 percent of market share for wheat varieties planted in Oregon and Washington. Part of that growth, Gaines said, has come from establishing collaborative breeding programs with the University of Idaho and Oregon State University.

“If you really want to have the very best genetics as quickly as you possibly can, you collaborate,” he said. “Everybody has their strengths. Nobody is ever going to be the best at everything.”

The breeding program with OSU, branded “Norwest,” has already yielded popular varieties including Duet and Tandem. Duet, in particular, has scored the highest yields in northern Idaho for three years running, according to the company.

Other new Limagrain varieties released in 2018 also include:

• LCS Ghost: This soft white winter wheat was adapted for fields south of Dayton, Wash. It has outstanding yield potential in irrigated and high-rainfall zones, Gaines said.

• LCS Shine: Similar to Bobtail, another soft white winter variety, with good test weight. “They both are very different, and that is part of the reason why we released them,” Gaines said. Shine is also resistant to current stripe diseases.

• LCS Zoom: This is a hard red wheat variety with better yield potential in dryland environments. Gaines said it is a good option for deep furrowing, with improved stripe rust resistance over earlier varieties Keldin and LCS Jet.

“These are strategic releases,” Gaines said. “In the beginning, we needed to fill our portfolio. We’re at the point now where we can start focusing on filling in our gaps.”

Mike Flowers, product development and trait manager for Limagrain, also provided an update on the CoAXium wheat production system, developed with the Colorado Wheat Research Foundation and Albaugh LLC.

CoAXium is built upon patented herbicide-resistant traits to help farmers better manage grassy weeds like cheatgrass and feral rye. The team launched its first variety, LCS Fusion AX, in 2017. Flowers said there will be very limited seed production next year, before it becomes more widely available on the market.

In addition, Flowers said they are now in seed production for three additional hard red CoAXium varieties, of which he expects at least two will be released.

“We’ve really pushed this, not just in the Pacific Northwest but across the country, as fast as we can,” Flowers said.

]]>Overcoming perception key to bright future for food barleyhttp://www.capitalpress.com/Profit/20181119/overcoming-perception-key-to-bright-future-for-food-barley
http://www.capitalpress.com/Profit/20181119/overcoming-perception-key-to-bright-future-for-food-barley#CommentsMon, 19 Nov 2018 10:36:56 -0500George Plaven
http://www.capitalpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2018181119902PORTLAND — With three times the fiber of oatmeal and a wide assortment of health benefits, barley has the potential to permanently change American food, says Bryce McKay with Highland Specialty Grains based in Moses Lake, Wash.

But first, McKay said the industry needs to shift public awareness of barley as a key ingredient in beer, to a key ingredient in meals.

McKay outlined efforts to boost the profile of food barley during a presentation Nov. 16 at the Tri-State Grain Growers Convention, a gathering of farmers from across Oregon, Washington and Idaho. This year’s event was in Portland.

U.S. barley production grew year over year to 153 million bushels in 2018, up 8 percent from 142 million bushels in 2017. Idaho was easily the largest producer by state, with 53.5 million bushels or about 35 percent of the entire crop, according to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. Washington harvested 4.8 million bushels, while Oregon totaled 1.3 million bushels.

In November 2013, Highland Specialty Grains took over the barley breeding program formerly run by WestBred, a subsidiary of Monsanto. McKay, the company’s commercial manager, told growers at the convention he expects a 10-plus percent increase in barley acres next year.

Overall, McKay — who also serves as director of marketing for McKay Seed Co. in Almira, Wash. — said barley exports are growing tremendously, especially to Japan, where the market has quadrupled over the last year.

However, a recent setback rattled some nerves after Japanese officials partially banned imports from Australia earlier this year, detecting high levels of the pesticide azoxystrobin in shipments, he said.

“That was something we had never faced before,” McKay said. “As the market has grown, there have been more and more regulatory implications, which makes sense. ... Obviously, this is for human consumption. That means safety is the most important factor.”

As for developing the domestic market, McKay is bullish. He said barley cereals, grain blends, pilafs and frozen foods may all prove popular with American consumers, especially given USDA claims it can help fight diabetes and lower the risk of heart disease.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports about 610,000 people die of heart disease in the U.S. every year, making it the leading cause of death for both men and women.

“Changing your diet and incorporating something like this starts to make a lot of sense,” McKay said. “That’s where I think we start to see a lot of interest rising.”

The challenge, McKay said, is overcoming perceptions. He said industry leaders are working with nonprofit organizations to tout barley’s health benefits, and get the grain onto school lunch menus.

“One of the main aspects of this is getting people to think about barley as a delicious addition into their diet,” McKay said.

So-called “naked” varieties of barley, bred to strip away the indigestible hull normally on the grain, may provide an additional degree of efficiency, McKay said. In January, Oregon State University announced it is leading a three-year, five-state project to test new varieties of naked barley, with $2 million in funding from the USDA Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative.

It might be $15.03 per hour, up 91 cents from the this year’s wage of $14.12. That’s a USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service projection based on a survey of prevailing wages of field and livestock workers across the nation, released Nov. 15.

The NASS calculations usually are adopted in December by the U.S. Department of Labor as the Adverse Effect Wage Rates — AEWRs — for the coming year. The AEWR is above state minimum wages and is intended to prevent wages of domestic workers from being adversely affected by the importation of foreign workers.

In Washington many H-2A workers in tree fruit are paid piece rates that typically are higher than the AEWR. Growers who employ H-2A workers have to use the AEWR as the minimum for all their workers. As the AEWR increases it pushes all wages up, growers say.

Dan Fazio, director of the farm labor association WAFLA, the largest H-2A provider in the Northwest at 15,771 workers, said the 6.4 percent increase for Washington and Oregon is roughly double the rate of inflation.

“It’s not sustainable. In crops like apples where 60 percent or more of the cost is labor, industry consolidation is inevitable and happening. Operations with the resources to invest in automation will survive and grow while others decline,” Fazio said.

H-2A reform is urgent to reduce costs if people want to save farms, he said. It’s hard to understand why groups that support farmers were lukewarm to the guestworker reform bill, HR 6417, he said.

“The question is whether the new Democratic-controlled U.S. House will pass immigration reform that makes the legal worker program more affordable, and will it be in time to save farms,” Fazio said.

The rate for Idaho, Montana and Wyoming is $13.48, up $1.85 or 15.9 percent from $11.63.

Jennifer Uranga, owner of Mountain West Ag Consulting in Wilder, Idaho, said Idaho probably went up so much because unemployment is the lowest ever in Idaho and farmers have to pay more to attract workers. She assisted growers in Idaho, Oregon and Washington get 1,000 H-2A workers this year and said she expects to double that next year.

California’s rate likely will be $13.92 per hour, up 74 cents or 5.6 percent from $13.18.

Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina are rated the lowest at $11.13 per hour, up from $10.95.

Georgia is the largest H-2A user in the nation. No. 2, Florida, is rated at $11.24, down 5 cents. Washington is third. No. 4, North Carolina, is at 12.25, up from $11.46. California is fifth.

]]>NCBA: Cattle industry makes progress on environmental policyhttp://www.capitalpress.com/Livestock/20181119/ncba-cattle-industry-makes-progress-on-environmental-policy
http://www.capitalpress.com/Livestock/20181119/ncba-cattle-industry-makes-progress-on-environmental-policy#CommentsMon, 19 Nov 2018 10:26:12 -0500Carol Ryan Dumas
http://www.capitalpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2018181119903There have been some wins and some setbacks for ranchers this year when it comes to federal environmental policy, but it’s moving in the right direction under the Trump administration.

The setbacks can be attributed to the courts and the gains can be credited to regulatory relief from the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Yager, chief environmental counsel for National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, told ranchers at the Idaho Cattle Association annual convention.

Work remains to finalize the repeal of the waters of the U.S. rule — called WOTUS — expanding EPA and Army Corps of Engineers jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act. The rule had been suspended while the agencies worked to replace it, and two federal courts blocked implementation in 24 states.

But a “zombie” WOTUS came back with a South Carolina court deciding the administration failed to comply with rulemaking requirements in suspending the rule — making it law in the 26 states not protected by an injunction, he said.

If approved by Congress, language in a House appropriations bill and the House version of the farm bill would repeal it. If not, the administration is in the process of repealing and replacing it, he said.

“We need a narrow definition closer to traditional navigable waters. We want a rule that’s understandable so producers can go out on their property and know” where the rule applies, he said.

NCBA is fighting WOTUS in courts, in the agencies and in Congress. And a broad swath of industry has banned together in a litigation coalition, he said.

A proposal for a new rule is expected soon. It will ultimately end up in the Supreme Court, but there’s a pretty good chance of winning if it doesn’t have any procedural faults, he said.

On more sure footing is an exclusion for agriculture from reporting livestock emissions to federal agencies under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), which came into effect in 1980 to clean up toxic waste sites.

EPA exempted agriculture from reporting livestock emissions under the act, but environmentalists sued and a court vacated the exemption in 2017. NCBA (and others) sought a legislative solution in Congress, resulting in an exemption being included in an omnibus bill signed into law in March.

Without the exemption, the law would have applied to about 200,000 livestock operations and there’s very little data to inform that reporting. Activists oppose the exemption because they want information on those operations to push regulations. CERCLA also requires follow-up reporting a year after the initial report. Such reporting would open the door to citizen lawsuits, he said.

In October, EPA proposed also exempting agriculture from reporting livestock emissions to state and local responders under the Emergency Planning and Community-Right-To-Know Act (EPCRA).

In another positive move, animal waste is no longer one of EPA’s enforcement initiatives.

“We’re back to a standard program of compliance … the cattle industry is out of EPA crosshairs,” he said.

The administration is ready to work with cattle producers rather than against them, he said.

]]>Utah brewers subject to new step in path to selling beerhttp://www.capitalpress.com/Profit/20181119/utah-brewers-subject-to-new-step-in-path-to-selling-beer
http://www.capitalpress.com/Profit/20181119/utah-brewers-subject-to-new-step-in-path-to-selling-beer#CommentsMon, 19 Nov 2018 10:10:03 -0500http://www.capitalpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2018181119904SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah brewers will have to specially test lower alcohol beer before it can go on the shelves of grocery and convenience stores, adding another hurdle to a list of the state’s tight liquor regulators.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports the state is mandating that lower alcohol beer must be tested to ensure it isn’t exceeding a threshold of 4 percent alcohol by volume.

The testing must be done in a state laboratory before the new beer that is 3.2 percent alcohol by weight hits stores.

“It’s not really an inconvenience for the brewers to send a sample,” said Nicole Dicou, executive director of the Utah Brewers Guild, “but it is another hoop to jump through.”

Dicou said the guild was under the impression that this sort of testing was part of a national push toward standardization.

Paul Gatza, director of the Boulder, Colorado-based national Brewers Association, said he doesn’t know of any other state where beverage regulators require testing of certain beers.

“This is something that would not fly in many states, as it puts an undue burden on the smallest breweries that have the least amount of sales,” he said.

It could also discourage smaller brewers from making special test batches of beer, he added.

The state Department of Alcohol Beverage Control used to send samples to an out-of-state lab. It now is in a joint agreement with the state Department of Agriculture and Food, which has on-site labs.

“Now we are doing our due diligence,” he said. “We want to make sure that anything we list, the alcohol content, is correct per the labeling,” said Cade Meier, department deputy director.

The Utah Legislature last year passed a massive bill overhauling liquor laws. The legislation’s mandates included requiring stores selling light beer obtain off-premise state licenses from the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control before March 2019.

It also put restrictions on beer displays to prevent confusion between nonalcoholic beverages and flavored beers and hard ciders, which might appear similar.

]]>In smoldering wildfire ruins, life goes on for a hardy fewhttp://www.capitalpress.com/California/20181119/in-smoldering-wildfire-ruins-life-goes-on-for-a-hardy-few
http://www.capitalpress.com/California/20181119/in-smoldering-wildfire-ruins-life-goes-on-for-a-hardy-few#CommentsMon, 19 Nov 2018 10:08:02 -0500 JOHN LOCHER and BRIAN MELLEY http://www.capitalpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2018181119905PARADISE, Calif. (AP) — Brad Weldon lost his home to fire when he was a kid, so when a deadly wildland blaze came roaring toward his ranch house in the pines where he lives with his 89-year-old blind mother, he wasn’t going to let disaster strike twice.

Weldon and his mother’s caregiver, armed only with a garden hose and buckets, successfully fought the flames for 24 hours. At times, they had to lie down in the dirt to “avoid burning up” as 60 mph winds drove flames through the forest.

Having saved his home in Paradise, Weldon’s not leaving what he now calls the “hell zone.”

“If they take me out of here, it will be at gunpoint,” Weldon said. “My mom says they’ll have to beat her ass, too. She ain’t going without a fight.”

Weldon is among a small group of fire survivors who have defied orders to leave and decided to stick it out in the blackened and smoldering landscape. Flames leveled the town of Paradise, which is about 140 miles north of San Francisco, and much of the surrounding area, killing at least 77 people and destroying more than 10,500 homes.

Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said he didn’t know how many people were living in the evacuation zones. Deputies who encounter someone in the area will confirm they live there, but won’t necessarily take other action.

“We’re not dragging them out,” he said. “If some guy stayed at his house, I’m not going to arrest him if he’s not creating some kind of problem. I’m trying to treat people with respect and compassion.”

Honea said he was hesitant to spread that message because it might encourage people to ignore evacuation orders, which can create problems even if they survive the initial danger. He said deputies have encountered people who stayed behind and ran out of food.

It’s an audacious endeavor to stay behind in the smoky ruins with all the challenges that remain: There’s no power, no public water supply and there’s nowhere nearby to get supplies. Residents who leave to get groceries, drinking water or fuel for generators, aren’t allowed to return.

The fire continues to burn and the sheriff has said there’s no timeline for when people will be allowed back in the area because the scope of the destruction is unprecedented.

Patrick Knuthson, who managed to save his large metal workshop that has a small apartment inside, said he’s not planning to leave and has plenty of food and fuel to provide electricity to his living space and to pump water from his well.

Knuthson has appointed himself as a guardian in his neck of the woods on the outskirts of Paradise where only two of 22 houses remained standing on his road. He has spray painted a sign saying “Looters will be shot!!”

Weldon also feared looters would break into his “hicktorian” style house — a one-story ranch with ornate Victorian details inside.

“It’s a ghost town, buddy,” he said. “It’s pitch black. If you hear something, you better be on your toes because somebody’s outside your house.”

Knuthson said he knows about 40 people still living in the hills and added that he’d welcome anyone who wants to park a trailer on his large plot of land.

For a while, his cousins, Phillip and Krystin Harvey, who lost their mobile home, had been staying with their three teenage daughters in a camper, trying to hang on to a piece of the life they had known. At night, the victims of the so-called Camp Fire stood by the glow of a campfire to stay warm.

Eventually the family gave up and moved to Oroville to stay with friends to have some stability and security, Knuthson said.

“They had to get out of the smoke,” Knuthson said. “To have some kind of life.”

Some stayed because they had nowhere else to go.

Troy Miller, who had tried to evacuate from his Concow home but was turned back by flames, was camping in a truck next to the metal frame that remained of his home. His horse and three dogs survived, but he has no money or insurance to rebuild.

Some passing firefighters gave Miller some drinking water, but he was hoping someone would get through the roadblocks and bring him a flashlight and some tarps for rain in the forecast.

“I’m alive and I’m still up here. There are plenty of other people worse off than I am,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of faith in God. I think things will be OK.”

Weldon said he was also staying put because he didn’t think there was anywhere safe he could take his ailing mother — especially now that norovirus has broken out in some shelters.

He’s confident they can keep going for months with an ample pantry, gas he’s siphoning from work vehicles to power his generator and a 3,000 gallon swimming pool he’s carefully rationing for bathing and water for the toilet.

“Flush it as little as possible,” he said. “Every gallon you put down there, you can’t get back.”

There’s also the stealthy “good old mountain boy underground” network of locals that has replenished drinking water and perishable food.

“Just out of amazingness it shows up every once in a while,” Weldon said.

]]>Orca task force recommends new look at Snake River damshttp://www.capitalpress.com/Washington/20181119/orca-task-force-recommends-new-look-at-snake-river-dams
http://www.capitalpress.com/Washington/20181119/orca-task-force-recommends-new-look-at-snake-river-dams#CommentsMon, 19 Nov 2018 09:51:18 -0500Don Jenkins
http://www.capitalpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2018181119906Adding 10 orcas to Puget Sound over the next decade will require more fish habitat and possibly removing four Lower Snake River dams, according to a report released Nov. 16 by a governor’s task force.

The Washington Farm Bureau was one of six organizations on the 47-member task force that abstained from voting to send the report to Gov. Jay Inslee. The Farm Bureau couldn’t endorse some of the report’s 36 proposals, including taking another look at removing Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose and Lower Granite dams, director of government relations Tom Davis said.

“That’s a non-starter for us,” he said. “It just prolongs the conversation.”

The task force, which will continue to meet, responds to a decline in the number of killer whales that feed off the Washington coast and near the San Juan Islands. The population peaked at 98 in 1995. The number has dropped to 74. The state goal is to have 84 by 2028.

Biologists blame the population decline on pollution, disturbance from vessels and a lack of fish, particularly Chinook salmon. Also, orcas must share salmon with a growing number of federally protected marine mammals.

The recommendations include suspending whale-watching tours for three to five years. The Pacific Whale Watching Association was the only group that voted to outright reject the report.

Davis said the Farm Bureau supports recommendations such as increasing hatchery production and studying how sea lions and harbor seals are affecting orcas. The bureau, however, objected to other recommendations besides possibly removing dams. Those recommendations included looking at spilling more water over dams and further restricting construction in and near water.

“We support the recovery of the orcas and there were a bunch of things we could support, so we didn’t want to outright reject (the report),” Davis said. “We’re concerned this is going to cast a wide net and pull in ag where it doesn’t belong.”

The task force suggested the state find a new source of money to fund orca-saving projects, though it didn’t present any ideas. The task force also didn’t put price tags on recommendations. Fully funding some proposals would require major expenditures.

The big-tickets projects would include a variety of habitat projects, including some that depend on breaching dikes and flooding what has been farmland. The recommendation will increase pressure to use more land to rear salmon, said Todd Myers, environmental director of the Washington Policy Center, a free-market think tank.

“I don’t think there is any doubt about it. The question is, Can we do it in a way that works for fish and farmers?” he said.

Myers criticized the recommendation to convene another group to study breaching the Snake River dams, which are the subject of an ongoing federal review. Environmentalists argue removing the dams would quickly enhance fish runs. Farm groups and others defend the dams as important for barging grain and for generating electricity.

The task force called for hiring a “third-party neutral” to “establish a tribal and stakeholder process” to discuss removing the dams.

Myers said the discussions would be dominated by politics and self-interest, not science.

“I can tell you right now if you ask whale-watching operators if dams should be removed or whale-watching banned, the answer is not going to have anything to do with science,” he said.

Defenders of Wildlife said in a statement that the recommendations were good, but not bold enough to save orcas from extinction.

“We must quickly and aggressively remove outdated and unneeded dams. We must fully protect and restore our rivers and floodplains, which includes limiting and removing harmful construction projects,” the group’s Northwest representative, Robb Krehbiel, said in a written statement.

The task force’s 36th recommendation is to reconvene in 2019 and address whatever it missed.

“We’ll really have to be in a defensive mode next year,” Davis said.

House Agriculture and National Resources Committee Chairman Brian Blake, one of three legislators on the task force, said he voted to send the report to the governor, though he didn’t agree with all the recommendations.

Many of the recommendations will require approval from lawmakers. “There will be a discussion about how ag is treated,” said Blake, D-Aberdeen.

]]>$5.3 million awarded to 7 Oregon water projectshttp://www.capitalpress.com/Water/20181119/53-million-awarded-to-7-oregon-water-projects
http://www.capitalpress.com/Water/20181119/53-million-awarded-to-7-oregon-water-projects#CommentsMon, 19 Nov 2018 08:24:10 -0500Mateusz Perkowski
http://www.capitalpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2018181119907Seven Oregon water infrastructure projects have won $5.3 million in grant funding from the Oregon Water Resources Commission, which postponed deciding on an eighth project until next year.

Most of the projects focus on improving water conveyance systems, such as replacing open canals with pipes, as well as improving the function of water storage and diversion structures.

One of the grant proposals that state water regulators recommended for approval — $1 million for replacing a municipal pipeline used the City of The Dalles — will be reconsidered by the commission in 2019 due to objections from tribes and an environmental group.

The commission also turned down 11 grant proposals for nearly $10 million at the recommendation of the Oregon Water Resources Department.

The decisions were made during the commission’s final quarterly meeting of 2018, held on Nov. 15-16 in Salem, Ore.

A portion of one of the rejected proposals — drilling two deep water supply wells in Mosier, Ore. — did win funding under a previous grant cycle, but the remaining phase did not rank high enough under a scoring system intended to measure social, environmental and economic value.

Money from the previous water supply development grant proved insufficient to drill both Mosier wells, so a farmer and local soil and water conservation district asked for $670,000 in funding to complete the second well.

Members of the commission discussed the project’s value to learning more about Columbia basin basalt aquifers, but ultimately decided to allow supporters to re-apply with more information during a future grant cycle.

“There will always be grants on the bubble,” said commissioner Joe Moll, executive director of the McKenzie River Trust in Eugene, Ore. “We can’t change that, it’s always going to be that way.”

Tom Byler, OWRD’s director, noted that Oregon’s water supply development grant program is relatively new, and more established grant programs also wrestle with tough decisions.

“We have a lot to learn,” Byler said. “Grant-making is a messy process.”

Following are descriptions of the projects that did win funding this year:

• Conversion of 300 acres in Wallowa County from flood irrigation to a center pivot irrigation system, with the conserved water dedicated to in-stream flows that will benefit federally protected fish. The grant will pay for about $600,000 of the projects total cost of $800,000.

• Replacing 6 miles of open canals and aging pipe used by the Dee Irrigation District in Hood River County with a new pipeline, with the conserved water dedicates to in-stream flows. The grant will pay for $1.6 million of the total project cost of $2.7 million.

• Installing 6 miles of pipe to replace an open canal used by the Tumalo Irrigation District in Deschutes County, with conserved water to be dedicated to in-stream flows. The grant will pay for $1.3 million of the total $6.7 million project cost.

• Raising the capacity of the Painted Hills reservoir in Wheeler County from 800 acre-feet to 1,300 acre-feet, along with upgraded irrigation equipment that will conserve water, contributing to in-stream flows. The grant will pay for $580,000 of the project’s total $1 million price tag.

• Storing and treating stormwater from Beaverton, Ore., with the water then recharging an aquifer through an existing well. The grant will pay for $860,000 of the project’s total $1.15 million cost.

• Replacing equipment and moving the point of diversion for irrigation water from Galls Creek in Jackson County, restoring fish habitat due to dam removal and conserving water through improved efficiency. The grant will pay for roughly $150,000 of the $200,000 cost.

• Excavating the Pinchot reservoir in Grant County to return it to full storage capacity. As part of the project, converting the irrigation system from wheel lines to a center pivot is expected to conserve water, and a new delivery headgate will include a fish screen. The $200,000 grant will pay for roughly half the project’s cost.

The City of The Dalles project that was tabled by the commission would replace 3.5 miles of wooden pipeline with a new iron pipe for $8 million, of which the grant would pay for $1 million.

The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and Waterwatch of Oregon had several problems with the proposal, but a central point of contention was the pipeline’s increased capacity, which could potentially allow it to draw more water from the Dog River.

The 2018 grant approvals mark the third cycle of disbursements from Oregon’s water supply development fund, which lawmakers created in 2013 but did not become operational until three years later.

About $8.5 million will remain left in the fund after the most recent grant approvals, though it’s likely lawmakers will be asked to allocate more money to it during the 2019 legislative session.

Snake River Seed Cooperative is bigger than its compact spread in a northwest Boise neighborhood might indicate.

Founder and self-proclaimed “seed freak” Casey O’Leary likes it that way. But she describes the organization’s recent growth enthusiastically.

“A lot of people are becoming interested in where their seeds come from,” she said. A growing contingent wants to learn about saving seeds, the subject of an instructional booklet Snake River sells.

Snake River Seed Cooperative, now in its fifth year, is adding to its grower base while increasing the number of seed varieties it has available. The volume of sales to end-user customers also is rising.

As the world’s seed industry consolidates, “more people are waking up to the idea that it is scary to have your food security in the hands of a handful of corporations,” O’Leary said. “So the demand for ‘seeds with a face’ — produced in your area by someone you trust — is increasing.”

More people are gardening, including a rising percentage in the millennial generation, which bodes well for continued solid demand, she said.

O’Leary said 36 family farmers produced seed for Snake River this year, up from 29 a year earlier.

The cooperative’s farmer-suppliers produce a wide variety of seeds in and for the Intermountain West — from sugar snap peas and zucchini to carrots, Zinnia flowers and various heirloom seeds. They use organic practices to grow seeds for mostly home gardeners and small-scale farmers in the region.

Cooperative-member suppliers range from home gardeners to larger farms, O’Leary said. Some are commercial growers of pea and bean seed. All must use organic practices under the cooperative’s rules.

End-user customers, including those selling at farmers’ markets, range from home gardeners to growers who occupy several acres. They use low-input approaches and want locally adapted, non-genetically-modified seeds that produce a good crop and good seed for replanting, she said.

“When you save a seed in a certain place, it becomes more adapted, year after year, to that place,” O’Leary said.

Because Snake River’s seeds were started in the region, they tend to grow better and with less care in its arid environment compared to seeds that originated elsewhere, she said.

The benefits of growing with local seeds, and saving them, extend beyond suitability to local conditions, O’Leary said.

“This is our local economy,” she said. “Most all of the seeds you buy on a nursery shelf have been brought in from somewhere else. By buying locally grown seeds, you are supporting your local farmers and your local economy.”

The cooperative this winter is starting a seed saver’s club designed to help bridge experience gaps between longtime and newer producers while providing educational and collaborative opportunities for all, O’Leary said. Participants pay $100 annually and receive new online content every month.

“It also offers them the opportunity to support the work the co-op is doing,” she said.

Snake River sells at some 35 retail stores in the Intermountain West. O’Leary, who earned a horticulture degree at Boise State University, previously was growing seeds on her own small farm — now one of the cooperative’s suppliers.

“We want there to be a greater diversity of locally grown seeds here, so we can have more interesting diets and more productive gardens,” she said.

]]>Judge hears challenge to grazing in Hells Canyon areahttp://www.capitalpress.com/Livestock/20181118/judge-hears-challenge-to-grazing-in-hells-canyon-area
http://www.capitalpress.com/Livestock/20181118/judge-hears-challenge-to-grazing-in-hells-canyon-area#CommentsSun, 18 Nov 2018 15:45:45 -0500 Katy Nesbitt http://www.capitalpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2018181119909PENDLETON, Ore. — Cattle grazing on public land in the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area was challenged in U.S. district court last week when an environmental group argued that it threatens a wildflower.

The U.S. Forest Service and Greater Hells Canyon Council of La Grande argued in front of Judge Patricia Sullivan regarding the perceived harm, or lack thereof, caused by cattle to the threatened wildflower Spalding’s catchfly, a forb found only in the inland Northwest.

The council filed suit in January claiming the Forest Service violated federal laws when it developed the Lower Imnaha Range Analysis. Jennifer Schwartz, representing the council, claimed cattle grazing is the number one threat to catchfly recovery.

“Most of the damage is ongoing, especially on slopes, the plant’s niche habitat,” Schwartz said.

For almost 100 years the McClaran family has winter-grazed cattle in Hells Canyon. Rancher Scott McClaran said catchfly doesn’t have a niche habitat and is found throughout much of Wallowa County.

“We have the longest running permit in the national recreation area and it has the highest density of Spalding’s catchfly, but we aren’t even talking about 600,000 acres that hasn’t been inventoried or the 400,000 ungrazed acres,” McClaran said,

Department of Justice attorney Sean Martin, representing the Forest Service, told Sullivan the 2015 range analysis was designed to improve habitat for catchfly, a species first documented in 2004 that has survived more than 200 years of cattle and horse grazing in the canyon, first by the Nez Perce and later by white settlers.

Martin said a survey conducted this summer inventoried 800 more plants than documented at the time of the 2015 decision.

“A Forest Service botany expert said cattle grazing is not threatening the viability of the species,” Martin said. “After all these years, it is not likely to be extirpated any time soon.”

The council’s complaint alleged the agency did not “take a hard look at the action’s potential environmental consequences” and therefore its decision was arbitrary, capricious, not in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act and “must be reversed and remanded.”

According to Darilyn Parry, the council’s executive director, her staff waited to see how the decision would be implemented before filing suit. The trigger was the result of a Freedom of Information Act request filed in August 2017. The complaint said the response did not include any current allotment management plans or botanical survey monitoring data.

“We monitored how the decision was implemented. For example, we wanted to see if the Forest Service would follow any Fish and Wildlife Service’s conservation recommendations for the project, or conduct addition monitoring of catchfly population, in order to get a sense of how the populations are doing over time.”

The McClarans and Wallowa County intervened in the case and were represented by Caroline Lobdell of the Western Resources Legal Center at Lewis and Clark Law School. She argued the plaintiff’s case was political and the Forest Service’s decision was neither capricious nor arbitrary.

“The plaintiffs say they are not asking for an injunction, but are blaming grazing for everything,” Lobdell said. “If they don’t like this decision then we are back to the prior management rule with less benefit.”

Sullivan said as she formed her opinion in the case she would be balancing interests.

“Getting rid of grazing in this particular area of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, I don’t see that happening. Now we have to figure out what to do. I have to applaud the McClarans — they are very careful, conscientious ranchers who want continued survival,” Sullivan said.

The judge concluded by recommending the Forest Service and the council get together while she is working on her opinion and settle the case.

“Nothing is written in stone,” Sullivan said. “There are a number of alternatives. Is there a better one?”

]]>Remembering the sweet life of a town wiped out by wildfirehttp://www.capitalpress.com/California/20181118/remembering-the-sweet-life-of-a-town-wiped-out-by-wildfire
http://www.capitalpress.com/California/20181118/remembering-the-sweet-life-of-a-town-wiped-out-by-wildfire#CommentsFri, 16 Nov 2018 12:07:33 -0500 MARTHA MENDOZA http://www.capitalpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2018181119918PARADISE, Calif. (AP) — There’s a sweet legend about this town: On a blazing summer day in the 1850s, a lumber mill crew with wagon and ox took a break under a grove of tall evergreens. The air was cool, the pine needles fragrant.

“Boys,” said the team boss, “this is paradise.”

Thus, more than 170 years ago, Paradise was born. From the start, it was enriched with gold mined from nearby hills and lumber harvested from the forests. Over generations, thousands lived and loved here; they built homes and businesses, schools and houses of worship, parks and museums that proudly honored Paradise’s place in American history.

In a matter of hours last week, it all disappeared.

Nearly 9,000 homes. Hundreds of shops and other buildings. The Safeway supermarket. The hardware store. The Dolly-O-Donuts & Gifts, where locals started their day with a blueberry fritter and a quick bit of gossip.

This town of 27,000 literally went up in smoke in the deadliest, most destructive wildfire in California history. The death toll, for now, is 63, but many more are missing. And memories are all that’s left for many of the survivors.

Driving past the smoldering ruins of downtown, Patrick Knuthson, a 49-year-old, fourth-generation local, struggled to make sense of what he was seeing. He pointed out places that once were, and were no more: a saloon-style pub, his favorite Mexican restaurant, a classic California motel, the pawn shop, a real estate office, a liquor store, the thrift center and auto repair shop, the remodeled Jack in the Box burger outlet, entire trailer parks.

At the ruined Gold Nugget Museum, the ground was crunchy and hot, a few birds chirped nearby, and a half dozen soot-covered deer stood eerily still under a blackened tree.

Paradise was a town where families put down roots, and visitors opted to stay. Children could bike to the park, go fishing in the town pond, shoot bows and arrows at the nearby archery range. As they got older, they’d kayak in the canyons or hike in the forests after school.

“We could tell the kids to go outside and play, and be back when the street lights come on,” said Kaitlin Norton, whose uncle is still missing. She does not know if her home still stands.

Like all places, Paradise had problems. There were issues with addiction and poverty, but residents felt safe. And while prices were rising, it was still affordable for many in a state where housing costs have soared.

“You would never miss a meal here,” said Terry Prill, 63, who often sought lunch and dinner at community churches. “The people are good people. They don’t look down at you.”

The pace was relaxed. Neighbors waved to each other in the morning, shouting hello as they headed off to work on tree-lined, winding streets and cul-de-sacs. Families kept tidy gardens and planted vegetables, trading their bounty up and down the block.

Louise Branch, 93, says Paradise was a lovely place to retire. “It’s a slow town, really. People have yards and dogs,” she said. “I especially liked it in the fall when the trees are full of color.”

Parks burst with bright orange California poppies and wildflowers in the spring, and soften with light snow in the winter. At 2,500 feet, on a ridge that rises above deep canyons carved by the Feather River and Butte Creek, Paradise offers cool respite from hot, dry weather in the valleys below.

Spanning the creek was the Honey Run Covered Bridge, built in 1886. It was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988 and was the only covered bridge in America with three unequal sections. It, too, is gone.

Glenn Harrington raised two sons in Paradise. He found it so picturesque he started the Visions of Paradise page on Facebook; image after image chronicles the town’s history and spirit, its seasonal colors and its many festivals.

Each spring there were Gold Nugget Days, marking the discovery of a 54-pound lump in 1859. The Donkey Derby in nearby Old Magalia would get silly, as locals recreated how miners heaved the famous chunk of gold into town. The highlight was a parade of homemade floats.

“My daughter’s going out for the Gold Nugget Queen this year,” said Krystin Harvey, whose mobile home burned down. “Well, it’s been going for 100 years, but we don’t know — there’s no town now.”

In the fall they’d celebrate Johnny Appleseed days, gathering at the recreation center for a crafts fair and games. This is when Paradisians would feast on more than 1,000 pies baked with fruit from Noble Orchards, a nearly century-old farm on Paradise Ridge where trees were heavy with cherries, nectarines, pluots and 17 varieties of apples.

“Paradise is everything the name implies,” said Tom Hurst, 67, who grew up there and raised horses at his 7-acre Outlaw’s Roost ranch. He has relatives in the local cemetery dating back to the early 1900s, and he refuses to talk about the town in the past tense. In fact, some buildings still stand, among them the town hall, the 750-seat performing arts center, the Feather River Hospital, its newer sections damaged but intact.

“Don’t use the word ‘was,’ use the word ‘is,’ because we ain’t done, we’re just getting restarted,” Hurst said.

And yet, there’s so much to mourn.

A month ago, the Paradise Symphony was rehearsing for the local “Nutcracker” ballet, and kids were pulling out their skates as the outdoor ice rink was set to open for the winter. The Paradise Post reported that fifth graders were building cardboard arcade games, and warned of backyard bats with rabies.

Now, crews search for live power lines and gas leaks. Rescue teams continue to pull human remains from cars and homes. Fire crews tamp out smoking piles, and a heavy layer of gray-brown haze hangs over the town.

The toxic, smoky air is a visceral reminder of what’s missing in this place where the skies were so blue by day, and dark by night.

“The most cherished thing for me about Paradise were the summer nights my mother and I would sit out on the porch under the clear, starry night,” said Harold Taylor, who moved to Paradise eight years ago, caring for his mother until she died.

Patrick Knuthson said visitors always were amazed by the glittering stars and the meteor showers, brilliant streaks of light that shot across the summer skies.

“We used to tell people all the time, ‘We made sure to turn all of them on for you,’ “ he said. “It’s going to take a long time to get that back.”

]]>Western Innovator: Variety makes irises irresistiblehttp://www.capitalpress.com/Business/20181118/western-innovator-variety-makes-irises-irresistible
http://www.capitalpress.com/Business/20181118/western-innovator-variety-makes-irises-irresistible#CommentsWed, 14 Nov 2018 18:20:32 -0500Mateusz Perkowski
http://www.capitalpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2018181119948SALEM, Ore. — A hobby discovered late in life has provided the Schreiner family with a thriving niche business for the better part of a century.

F.X. Schreiner was a “gentlemen farmer” in Minnesota when in 1925 he began hybridizing irises for fun.

Shortly before his death six years later, he’d offer his three children some practical advice: “This would be a good business.”

Bob, Connie and Gus took the guidance to heart, and nearly nine decades later, their father’s words continue to ring true.

Schreiner’s Iris Gardens, now operated by the third and fourth generations of the family, produces roughly 1,200 selections of iris on about 100 acres north of Salem, Ore., that are sold around the U.S. and the world.

The company also makes about 20,000 crosses a year to hybridize new varieties, resulting in about 15 to 18 marketable new selections a year offered to customers.

“Most of them will be thrown away because they’re not that much different,” said Ray Schreiner, the founder’s grandson. “People are going for bigger flowers, beards, bud counts and any new color break.”

Flowers are hand-pollinated, the seeds are later harvested from cucumber-like pods and planted in November, then germinate the following year and have their flowers evaluated during the spring bloom.

Those handful of plants judged to be superior or unique have their rhizomes replanted to begin commercial production — each rhizome will produce three or four more, so scaling up takes time.

The Schreiners considered using tissue culture propagation, in which tiny plants are split up and regrown over a relatively short period of time in a lab.

While the technique does exponentially increase the numbers of a new selection, they found that those descendants didn’t stay true to type compared conventional vegetative propagation.

“They didn’t stay stable,” Ray said.

Brand new selections tend to fetch the highest prices — $60 to $65 per rhizome — but the volume tends to be low, said Liz Schmidt, Ray’s sister.

“We don’t have a lot, so we don’t sell a lot,” she said.

Most people will not fork over $60 or more per rhizome, but collectors, breeders and farmers often will, said Ray. These new varieties can generally be freely cultivated, as irises haven’t traditionally been subject to plant patents.

That would likely change if anyone eventually manages to produce a red iris, which has so far proven elusive, he said. “It’s almost the colors of the rainbow, except red.”

Some traits, such as irises that bloom more than once a year, take a longer time to breed. Weather fluctuations can affect this particular characteristic, but it’s getting more consistent, Ray said.

“The trouble with re-bloomers is they don’t always rebloom,” he said.

The contributions of Schreiner’s Iris Gardens to iris breeding have been repeatedly recognized with prestigious awards, such as winning the Dykes Memorial Award — considered the industry’s top honor — 11 times since 1958.

Growing irises on a commercial scale is particularly labor-intensive during the summer. The company begins digging up rhizomes to fill orders in July, which often overlaps with planting rhizomes in August for the next year’s crop.

“When the weather is nice, you have to go like crazy,” said Ray.

Labor shortages are nothing new in agriculture and the problem is growing worse, which has the company looking for ways to improve efficiency.

Currently, iris rhizomes are harvested mechanically with an implement attached to the back of a tractor. As the harvested plants fall out the back, four workers scurry to throw them into bins on top of it.

In the heat and the dust, it’s hardly the most desirable task on the farm, and those four workers would be happy to be assigned other duties.

“It’s a horrible job,” said Ray.

“Nobody wants to do it,” Liz added.

To improve the process, the company is modifying a combine harvester that would dig up the iris rhizomes on the front end.

Dirt would be shaken from them while tumbling across rods under the machine, then they’d be directly deposited into bins out the back without human intervention.

“It’s not like any other crop, where you can just buy the machinery,” said Ben Schreiner, Ray’s son and the family’s fourth generation to grow irises.

Schreiner’s Iris Gardens

Founded: 1925

Location: Salem, Ore., after relocating from St. Paul, Minn., in 1946.

Family: Founded in Minnesota by R.X. Schreiner, relocated to Oregon by his children, Bob, Connie and Gus. Now run by Gus’s children, Ray Schreiner, Steve Schreiner and Liz Schmidt, as well as Ray’s son, Ben.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-controlled House passed a bill Friday to drop legal protections for gray wolves across the lower 48 states, reopening a lengthy battle over the predator species.

Long despised by farmers and ranchers, wolves were shot, trapped and poisoned out of existence in most of the U.S. by the mid-20th century. Since securing protection in the 1970s, wolves have bounced back in the western Great Lakes states of Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, as well as in the Northern Rockies and Pacific Northwest.

The Fish and Wildlife Service is reviewing the wolf’s status and is expected to declare they’ve recovered sufficiently to be removed from protection under the Endangered Species Act.

The House bill would enshrine that policy in law and restrict judicial review of listing decisions. The measure was approved, 196-180, and now goes to the Senate, where prospects are murkier.

The bill’s chief sponsor, Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., said farmers in Wisconsin and other states are “one step closer to having the legal means to defend their livestock from gray wolves.”

States should be responsible for managing wolf populations, “not Washington bureaucrats,” Duffy said.

“The recovery of the gray wolf is a success story for the Endangered Species Act and the best available science must determine whether species remain listed,” Newhouse said.

States are best equipped to effectively manage gray wolves, Newhouse said, noting returning of management to the states was requested by the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife and the Obama administration.

Newhouse said it is due to “fringe environmental efforts” through the courts that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has been unable to delist the wolf.

“It is because of this exploitation of the law that communities like those in Central Washington suffer the consequences,” he said.

The wolf is not federally listed in the eastern third of Washington but is in the western two-thirds, impairing management, he said.

Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., likely the next chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, also is a sponsor of the bill.

Environmental groups and many Democrats slammed the bill as a last-ditch effort by Republicans to push a pro-rancher agenda after losing control of the House in this month’s midterm elections.

“This final, pathetic stab at wolves exemplifies House Republicans’ longstanding cruelty and contempt for our nation’s wildlife,” said Brett Hartl, government affairs director for the Center for Biological Diversity, an Arizona-based environmental group.

“The American people overwhelmingly support the Endangered Species Act and the magnificent animals and plants it protects,” Hartl said. “We don’t expect to see these disgraceful anti-wildlife votes next year under Democratic control of the House.”

Livestock industry associations representing ranchers who have to contend with wolves scaring and attacking cattle and sheep said in a letter to Congress that U.S. wolf populations have recovered in recent decades. The animal would have been removed from the endangered species list if not for “activist litigants” who “used the judicial system to circumvent sound science and restore full ESA protections to these predators,” the groups wrote.

Comments: This sale consisted of 2800 HD HD of stockers, feeders and 500 weigh cows and bulss. Stockers were softer due to continued dry conditions. Feeders were softer with a lower futures market. Weight cows and bulls steady.

Note: Due to the Thanksgiving Holiday on Nov. 22, this report will not be issued again until Nov. 29. The Moses Lake Market News office will be closed Nov. 19-23 and no reports will be issued.

Compared to last Thursday at the same market, stocker and feeder cattle steady in a light test. Slaughter cows steady to 1.00 higher. Slaughter bulls 1.00-2.00 lower. Trade active with moderate demand for all classes. Very good demand for value added slaughter cows that are guaranteed grass fed. Dairy harvest is large. FSIS data for week ending Oct. 27 shows dairy harvest was 63,656 head, which is over 11 percent larger than the same week last year. These heavy dairy supplies are currently hitting the market at a time when beef cows usually cull for winter. Slaughter cows 66 percent, slaughter bulls 10 percent, and feeders 24 percent of the supply. The feeder supply included 31 percent steers and 69 percent heifers. Near 67 percent of the run weighed over 600 lbs.

Domestic wool trading on a clean basis was at a standstill this week. There were no confirmed trades reported. Domestic wool trading on a greasy basis was also at a standstill this week. There were no confirmed trades reported.

NATIONAL SHEEP SUMMARY

(USDA Market News)

San Angelo, Texas

Nov. 16

Compared to last week: Slaughter lambs were mixed, mostly sharply higher in advance of lack of sales due to the upcoming holiday. Slaughter ewes were mostly steady to 5.00 higher. Feeder lambs under 60 lbs were sharply higher, heavier weights were sharply lower. At San Angelo, Texas, 3547 head sold. No sales in Equity Electronic Auction. In direct trading slaughter ewes and feeder lambs were not tested. 2400 head of negotiated sales of slaughter lambs were steady to 2.00 lower. 2,960 lamb carcasses sold with all weights no trend due to confidentiality. All sheep sold per hundred weight (CWT) unless otherwise specified. Due to the Thanksgiving holiday next week this report will not be published.

Bids for US 1 Soft White Wheat delivered to Portland in unit trains or barges during November for ordinary protein trended steady compared to week ago prices for the same delivery period from 6.20-6.35. Some exporters were not issuing bids for nearby delivery.

White club wheat premiums were zero cents per bushel over soft white wheat bids this week and last week.

One year ago bids for US 1 Soft White Wheat any protein for November delivery by unit trains and barges to Portland were 5.18-5.35 and bids for White Club Wheat were 5.16-5.40. Forward month bids for soft white wheat ordinary protein were as follows: December 6.20-6.35, January 6.20-6.28, January 6.20-6.31 and February 6.20-6.34.

One year ago, forward month bids for soft white wheat for any protein were as follows: December 5.18-5.35, January 5.2175-5.40, February 5.2475-5.40 and March 5.2775-5.36.

Bids for US 1 Soft White Wheat guaranteed maximum 10.5 percent protein during November trended steady compared to week ago prices for the same delivery period from 6.20-6.35. Some exporters were not issuing bids for nearby delivery.

White club wheat premiums for guaranteed maximum 10.5 percent protein soft white wheat this week were zero cents per bushel over soft white wheat bids this week and last week.

One year ago bids for US 1 Soft White Wheat guaranteed maximum 10.5 percent protein for November delivery by unit trains and barges to Portland were 5.18-5.35 and bids for White Club Wheat were 5.16-5.40.

Forward month bids for soft white wheat guaranteed 10.5 percent proteins were as follows: December 6.20-6.35. One year ago, forward month bids for soft white wheat for any protein were as follows: December 5.18-5.35, January 5.2175-5.40 and February 5.2475-5.40.

Bids for 11.5 percent protein US 1 Hard Red Winter Wheat for November delivery trended 10.25 to 17.25 cents per bushel lower compared to week ago prices for the same delivery period from 6.20-6.45. Some exporters were not issuing bids for nearby delivery.

This week, bids were as follows: December 6.30-6.55 and January 6.3325-6.5825.

Bids for non-guaranteed 14.0 percent protein US 1 Dark Northern Spring Wheat for Portland delivery during November trended 5.25 cents per bushel lower compared to week ago prices for the same delivery period from 6.7475-6.8475.

Some exporters were not issuing bids for nearby delivery. This week, bids for non-guaranteed 14 percent protein were as follows: December 6.7975-6.9275 and January 6.75-6.93.

Coarse feeding grains: Bids for US 2 Yellow Corn delivered full coast Pacific Northwest - BN shuttle trains for November delivery trended one to three cents per bushel lower compared to week ago prices for the same delivery period from 4.6050. Some exporters were not issuing bids for nearby delivery.

Forward month corn bids were as follows: December 4.6750-4.7150, January 4.7225-4.7325, February 4.7325, March 4.7225-4.7325 and April 4.7575-4.7675.

Bids for US 1 Yellow Soybeans delivered full coast Pacific Northwest - BN shuttle trains for November delivery were not available as most exporters were not issuing bids for nearby delivery. Forward month soybean bids were as follows: December not available. Bids for US 2 Heavy White Oats for November delivery trended steady at 3.4825 per bushel.

Outstanding Export Sales: Outstanding U.S. white wheat export sales can be found at the following link: https://apps.fas.usda.gov/export-sales/wheat.htm

Outstanding U.S. barley export sales can be found at the following link: https://apps.fas.usda.gov/export-sales/barley.htm

Pacific Northwest Export News: There were 12 grain vessels in Columbia River ports on Thursday, Nov. 15, with five docked compared to 14 last week with five docked. There were no new confirmed export sales this week from the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) of the USDA.

CALIFORNIA GRAIN

(USDA Market News)

Nov. 15

This report will not be issued next week due to the holiday.

Paid by feed manufacturers and other users, delivered plant or receiving station. All prices are offers for prompt shipment unless otherwise stated.

Due to limited availability, prices were not available with the exception of the following categories:

Benchmark prices are steady. Asking prices for next week are unchanged for Jumbo, 3 cents higher for Extra Large, 4 cents higher for Large and 14 cents higher for Medium and Small. The undertone is steady. Retail demand is seasonally fairly good to good. Food service movement is mostly moderate to fairly good. Warehouse buying interest is light to moderate as most are content with current floor stocks and pre-ordered shell eggs going into the holiday week. Offerings are light for Jumbo, short for Medium and are moderate for Extra Large and Large. Supplies are moderate. Market activity is moderate to active. Small benchmark price $1.18. Size Range Size Range

In California, a good pull of milk is going to retail accounts to fulfill Thanksgiving holiday buying needs. Next week, many educational institutions will be closed for a few days. As so, milk orders to refill schools’ pipelines have decreased.

Milk output across the state is a bit up, but processors are not having any problems handling the milk.

Arizona milk production levels are steady to up. Milk supplies conform with plant managers expectations, so they are able to manage them adequately. As most schools get ready to close next week for the Thanksgiving holiday, their demand for Class I milk is being adjusted accordingly.

However, retail stores are taking more milk to satisfy holiday buyers’ needs.

Topsoil and subsoil moistures are 90 percent adequate to surplus this week, compared to 94 percent last week. Seventy-seven percent of the alfalfa hay acreage is good to excellent.

Dairy farmers in New Mexico say that cows are producing more milk with the declining temperatures. Milk requests from the Southeast remain strong. Southeastern processors continue to send their own trucks/drivers to pick up farm milk on a daily basis as western handlers cannot accommodate transportation for them.

This week Class I and III demands are trending higher while Class II requests are mainly steady to down. It seems like retailers and restaurants are restocking their supplies for buyers’ holiday needs. Minor repair/maintenance at a plant caused milk holdovers to increase, but it is now slowly decreasing.

The sixth cutting of alfalfa hay is taking place, with 94 percent of the alfalfa acreage already harvested. Topsoil and subsoil moistures are both 71 percent adequate to surplus.

Pacific Northwest milk production is following typical seasonal patterns. There is plenty of milk for processing and bottling needs, even as intakes have trended slightly lower. Milk handlers are preparing as best they can to make sure each load of milk has a home ahead of the holiday.

Milk production in the mountain states of Idaho, Utah and Colorado is steady. Manufacturers say there is ample milk for most processing needs. Some excess loads are finding their way into neighboring states at discounts to offset transportation costs.

Cold weather is finding its way into the region and some snow is starting to accumulate at upper elevations, but so far, there have been no issues regarding cow comfort.

Western condensed skim supplies are ample as milk yield is increasing in the region. Processors are accordingly managing their inventories.

Cream in the West is available to meet the needs of almost all the buyers. However, supplies have been declining as demand increases close to the Thanksgiving holiday. Some surrounding regions continue to source their cream needs from the West due to their limited inventories. Cream multiples for all usages are 1.10-1.35.

Compared to last week, steers and heifers sold 2.00 to 6.00 lower. Over the course of this fall, feeder cattle buyers have been more stringent on health protocols of cattle on offer. Buyers now have orders that require calves have at least one, preferably two rounds of shots and be weaned 60 days or more. Feedlots have been content to be selective when it comes to purchasing those higher risk offerings.

In the Northern Plains, cold weather with poor yard conditions and many crops still waiting to be harvested have put a damper on procuring bawling calves at this time. Buyers are glad to see a deep freeze early this week in sections of the country as ole man winter has officially arrived. Calves are getting used to the cold and won’t be subject to respiratory issues as much now.

The CME Cattle Complex has struggled in recent weeks, but this week a little upswing hasn’t managed to turn around the doldrums of last week. For the week, December through June Live Cattle contracts were 0.78 to 1.92 higher, while the January through August Feeder Cattle contracts were 0.57 to 2.72 higher.

This week, packers were able to ward off negotiated cash trade until Friday again. For the week ending Nov. 9, Southern Plains live cash sales were mostly 114.00 with a few up to 115.00 while dressed sales in the Northern Plains were at 180.00. Boxed-beef values appear to have taken a pause recently. During recent weeks there has been an increase in percentage of cattle grading choice and could indicate that choice product is plentiful at the current time.

At the end of October over 78 percent of fed steers and heifers were grading choice or better.

For the week, the Choice cutout closed 2.29 lower at 212.91, while Select was 1.15 lower at 197.57. Harvest has been moving slow with all the moisture recently in the major grain producing states.

There is less than a week away before Thanksgiving tables are set, it’s safe to say that conditions have heated up in the much of turkey industry. The American Farm Bureau Federation’s 33rd annual survey showed the cost for the Thanksgiving dinner is down for the third straight year. The annual cost for this year’s feast for 10 people is $48.90 a .22 cent decrease from last year.

Boxed Beef prices as of Friday afternoon averaged 205.24 down 1.72 from last Friday. The Choice/Select spread is 15.34. Slaughter cattle on a national basis for negotiated cash trades through Friday afternoon totaled 40,915. Last week’s total head count was 107,771.

Midwest Direct Markets:

Live Basis: Steers and Heifers: 111.50-112.50.

Dressed Basis: Steers and Heifers: 177.00-178.00.

South Plains Direct Markets:

Live Basis: Steers and Heifers: 114.00.

Slaughter Cows and Bulls (Average Yielding Prices): Slaughter cows and bulls traded mostly steady with exception of the Southeast as much as 5.00 higher. Packer demand moderate. Cutter Cow Carcass Cut-out Value on Friday was 154.33 down 0.18 from last Friday.

Northwest Weighted

Direct Feeder Cattle

Nov. 16

This week Last week 2017(Hd)

762 495 352

Due to the holiday this report will next be issued on Nov. 21.

Compared to last week: Feeder cattle and calves lightly tested with a higher undertone noted. Demand moderate to good. Large volumes at sale barns barring winter like weather making country trade limited. Supply included 54 percent over 600 lbs and 33 percent heifers. Unless otherwise stated prices are FOB weighting points with 2-3 percent shrink or equivalent and a 5-10 cent slide on calves and a 4-12 cent slide on yearlings from base weights. Current sales are up to 14 days delivery.

Feeder Steers Medium and Large 1

60 Head: Avg Wt 550 lbs; Avg Price 170.20; Current Del

272 Head: Avg Wt 612 lbs; Avg Price 160.81; Current Del

180 Head: Avg Wt 735 lbs; Avg Price 154.00; Current Del

Feeder Heifers Medium and Large 1

45 Head: Avg Wt 533 lbs; Avg Price 156.79; Current Del

165 Head: Avg Wt 571 lbs; Avg Price 152.02; Current Del

40 Head: Avg Wt 650 lbs; Avg Price 145.00; Current Del

]]>Western hay price reporthttp://www.capitalpress.com/Livestock/20181116/western-hay-price-report
http://www.capitalpress.com/Livestock/20181116/western-hay-price-report#CommentsFri, 16 Nov 2018 15:41:58 -0500http://www.capitalpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2018181119916Hay prices are dollars per ton or dollars per bale when sold to retail outlets. Basis is current delivery FOB barn or stack, or delivered customer as indicated. Grade guidelines used in this report have the following relationship to Relative Feed Value (RFV), Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF), TDN (Total Digestible Nutrients), or Crude Protein (CP) test numbers:

Grade RFV ADF TDN CP

Supreme 185+ <27 55.9+ 22+

Premium 170-185 27-29 54.5-55.9 20-22

Good 150-170 29-32 52.5-54.5 18-20

Fair 130-150 32-35 50.5-52.5 16-18

Utility <130 36+ <50.5 <16

WASHINGTON-OREGON HAY

(Columbia Basin)

(USDA Market News)

Nov. 16

5610 tons 6950 4635

Note: Due to the Thanksgiving Holiday this report will not be issued again until Nov. 30, 2018. The Moses Lake Market News office will be closed Nov. 19-23 and no reports will be issued. Compared to last Friday, all grades of Alfalfa for export and domestic steady to firm. Export Timothy steady. Trade moderate with good demand as more interest was shown by exporters and feeder hay buyers this week. Exporters are starting to receive more orders. Due to the holiday next week exporters will only be working 3 days. Retail/Feed store steady.

Tons Price

Alfalfa Mid Square

Good/Exp 1000 180.00

Fair/Good/Exp 500 163.00

Fair/Exp 2300 167.83

Tarped 600 156.67

Alfalfa Small Square

Premium 260 227.60

Timothy Grass Mid Square

Good/Exp 750 181.33

Bluegrass Straw Mid Square

Fair/Tarped 200 65.00

OREGON AREA HAY

(USDA Market News)

Nov. 16

This week FOB Last week Last year

3623 Tons 2183 3571

Compared to Nov 9: Prices trended generally steady compared to last week prices. Retail/Stable type hay remains the most demanded hay. Contacts were difficult to get ahold of this week. Upcoming holidays have slowed sales. All sales in this report are 2018 crop year hay. Some growers are sold out for this crop year.

Crook, Deschutes, Jefferson, Wasco Counties:

Tons Price

Alfalfa Large Square

Good/Premium 30 210.00

Small Square

Premium 162 230.00

Orchard Grass Small Square

Premium 148 235.95

Meadow Grass Small Square

Premium 50 215.00

Eastern Oregon:

Alfalfa/Orchard Mix Small Square

Premium 50 181.00

Good/Premium 50 155.00

Orchard Grass Small Square

Premium 10 175.00

Klamath Basin:

Alfalfa Large Square

Premium 700 215.71

Fair 400 125.00

Small Square

Premium 400 220.00

Good/Premium 25 200.00

Alfalfa/Orchard Mix Small Square

Premium 200 240.00

Orchard Grass Mid Square

Good/Premium 65 175.00

Meadow Grass Small Square

Premium 10 200.00

Triticale Small Square

Good 160 130.00

Barley Straw Small Square

Utility 150 65.00

Lake County:

Alfalfa Large Square

Supreme 270 200.00

Org 35 250.00

Good/Dam 200 165.00

Small Square

Premium 30 200.00

30 200.00

Fair/Good 30 150.00

Rye Grass Small Square

Prem/Org 28 215.00

Triticale Straw Large Square

Utility 360 60.00

Alfalfa/Triticale Mix Large Square

Good/Premium 30 150.00

Harney County: No New Sales Confirmed.

IDAHO HAY

(USDA Market News)

Nov. 16

This week FOB Last week Last year

2150 4900 1000

Note: Due to the Thanksgiving Holiday on Nov. 22 this report will not be issued again until Nov. 30. The Moses Lake Market News office will be closed Nov. 19-23 and no reports will be issued. Compared to last Friday, good grades of Alfalfa and Oat hay steady in a light test. Trade slow with good demand especially for Feeder, Organic and Oat hay as demand exceeds supply at this time of the year. Out of state buyers are also pushing the market.

Tons Price

Alfalfa Mid Square

Prem/Org 900 200.00

Good 700 143.57

Org 300 170.00

Oat Mid Square

Good 250 110.00

CALIFORNIA HAY

(USDA Market News)

Nov. 16

This week FOB Last week Last year

3000 tons 9530 1625

Compared to last Friday: All classes traded steady with moderate demand. According to the Crop Production report Nov. 8 all alfalfa area harvested for the U.S. was 17,351,000 acres for 2018 with a yield per acre of 3.43 versus 16,563,000 acres for 2017 with a yield per acre of 3.32. Hay is reported FOB the stack or barn unless otherwise noted. Regions are defined at bottom of report.

Tons Price

REGION 1: NORTHERN INTERMOUNTAIN

Includes the counties of Siskiyou, Modoc, Shasta, Lassen and Plumas: No New Sales Confirmed.

Includes the counties of San Joaquin, Calaveras, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, Mono, Merced and Mariposa.

Alfalfa Supreme 950 250.00

Dam 50 185.00

Premium/Supreme 400 210.00

Premium 50 220.00

Corn Stalks Good/Del 500 89.00

Region 4: Central San Joaquin Valley

Includes the counties of Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare and Inyo: No New Sales Confirmed.

REGION 5: SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Includes the counties of Kern, Northeast Los Angeles and Western San Bernardino.

Alfalfa Premium 150 265.00

Forage Mix-Three Way Good 50 260.00

REGION 6: SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA

Includes the counties of Eastern San Bernardino, Riverside and Imperial.

Alfalfa Premium 300 220.00

700 245.00

]]>Jennie-O recalling ground turkey in salmonella outbreakhttp://www.capitalpress.com/Research/20181116/jennie-o-recalling-ground-turkey-in-salmonella-outbreak
http://www.capitalpress.com/Research/20181116/jennie-o-recalling-ground-turkey-in-salmonella-outbreak#CommentsFri, 16 Nov 2018 12:13:11 -0500http://www.capitalpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2018181119917NEW YORK (AP) — Jennie-O Turkey recalled packages of ground turkey in a salmonella outbreak, and regulators say additional products from other companies could be named as their investigation continues.

The recall was the first — not counting pet food — tied to a widespread and ongoing outbreak that has resulted in one death and 164 reported illnesses in 35 states.

Regulators did not say how many of those people were exposed to Jennie-O products.

The products being recalled include 1-pound packages of raw, ground Jennie-O turkey and were sold nationwide. The more than 91,000 pounds of turkey had use-by dates of early October and shouldn’t be in stores anymore, but could still be in freezers. Regulators say it should be thrown away.

Jennie-O’s parent company, Austin, Minnesota-based Hormel Foods Corp., said in a statement that government agencies have found the strain in the outbreak in 29 manufacturing plants from 19 companies.

U.S. Department of Agriculture officials have not named those plants or companies. The agency says it has to be able to tie a specific product to illnesses before it can prompt a recall. Salmonella is not considered an adulterant in raw poultry unless products can be clearly linked to illnesses.

With Thanksgiving approaching, the agency is reminding people that they should always properly handle and cook their turkeys to kill any possible salmonella. Salmonella in food is estimated to be responsible for 1 million illnesses a year, with symptoms including vomiting, diarrhea and stomach cramps.

Pet food with raw turkey was linked to the outbreak previously. A Minnesota company earlier this year recalled pet food with the same strain of salmonella.

]]>Major Colorado River water user floats Arizona drought planhttp://www.capitalpress.com/California/20181116/major-colorado-river-water-user-floats-arizona-drought-plan
http://www.capitalpress.com/California/20181116/major-colorado-river-water-user-floats-arizona-drought-plan#CommentsFri, 16 Nov 2018 11:42:57 -0500 FELICIA FONSECA http://www.capitalpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2018181119919FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — A major Colorado River water user has proposed an interim plan for Arizona as the state faces a looming deadline to manage expected shortages. The Central Arizona Project board said its proposal could jumpstart talks after previous ones failed to gain consensus among water users.

The Central Arizona Project wants to draw up to 400,000 acre-feet of water it stored in Lake Mead and 50,000 acre-feet in Lake Pleasant to lessen the burden of shortages on mainly farmers and developers. A second component would be a $60 million conservation program. Another program would help improve groundwater systems but doesn’t have a price tag.

The utility said the proposal theoretically would result in a net benefit to Lake Mead because Arizona couldn’t pull out as much water under regular deliveries, stabilizing the lake before it reaches a level where no one could get any water.

Arizona water users had a mixed response to the proposal presented a board meeting Thursday. It covers only three years of a required seven-year, multistate plan to manage the shrinking Colorado River. It also allows the Central Arizona Project to pull out water it has stored in Lake Mead on the Arizona-Nevada border while encouraging water users to boost the reservoir through things like fallowing farm land.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said this week that any drought plan has to align with four principles, one of which is to build on efforts to prop up the lake that determines how much water can be sent to Arizona, Nevada and California from the river’s lower basin.

“I will not sign a bill that does not adhere to these important principles, or any bill that does not adequately help to secure our state’s water future,” Ducey wrote in an opinion piece.

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman has said she wants a plan from the seven states that relies on the river by the end of the year. The upper basin states — Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — are working on a separate plan.

“Reclamation recognizes that time is short and that the negotiations in Arizona are at a critical stage,” said agency spokeswoman Patti Aaron. “Reclamation remains cautiously optimistic that the parties will find a path forward.”

An Arizona drought contingency committee is scheduled to meet later this month to consider the Central Arizona Project proposal and any others. The Colorado River Indian Tribes recently offered 50,000 acre-feet of water to help reach agreement, with strings attached.

State Sen. Lisa Otondo struck an ominous tone in a recent letter to fellow committee members.

“The longer we argue and delay, the more we risk,” she said. “Time is our enemy. We are facing a common crisis and will all have to take a hit or face the judgment of history.”

A nearly two-decade-long drought has drained the river’s two largest reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, to alarmingly low levels. The Bureau of Reclamation puts the chances of a shortage in water deliveries to the lower basin at more than 50 percent in 2020. Arizona, Nevada and Mexico would be hit first.

The drought contingency plan would mean deeper cuts but it also would spread the shortages more widely, eventually looping in California, which wouldn’t lose any water under the current guidelines.

Arizona has agreed to overall figures for the drought plan but determining who contributes what within the state has been contentious.

The Gila River Indian Community, which has the largest share of river water delivered through Central Arizona Project canals, said any attempt to lessen the blow of shortages under a drought plan has to be equitable.

Central Arizona farmers did not expect to fully lose Colorado River water until 2030. They would be hardest hit as is and are looking for help.

Dan Thelander, whose family farms 5,000 acres in Pinal County, said he will have to fallow 2,000 acres under the Central Arizona Project proposal.

“This is a tough pill to swallow, but we understand it,” he said at Thursday’s meeting. “We’re ready to do it.”

]]>Forest Service chief vows to rid agency of sexual harassmenthttp://www.capitalpress.com/Outdoors/20181116/forest-service-chief-vows-to-rid-agency-of-sexual-harassment
http://www.capitalpress.com/Outdoors/20181116/forest-service-chief-vows-to-rid-agency-of-sexual-harassment#CommentsFri, 16 Nov 2018 11:37:22 -0500 JULIET LINDERMAN http://www.capitalpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2018181119920WASHINGTON (AP) — Amid scrutiny stemming from fresh revelations of rampant discrimination, bullying, retaliation and sexual misconduct at the U.S. Forest Service, the agency’s new chief pledged Thursday that she will “do everything in my power to put us on a path to no harassment.”

Vicki Christiansen acknowledged to a congressional panel that the Forest Service is in need of a culture change. She pledged to enact new systems and overhaul existing processes to ensure a safe and functional work environment.

“I know our actions past and present are not enough, we must do more,” said Christiansen, who was named interim chief in March and took over the position permanently just a month ago. She was appearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

The Forest Service is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The agency’s struggles date to at least the 1970s, when a class-action lawsuit was filed alleging discrimination against women in hiring and promotions. In December 2016, the oversight panel held a hearing to address reports of systemic discrimination, bullying and harassment within the Forest Service.

The matter has gained renewed attention as female Forest Service employees recently stepped forward with tales of harassment, retaliation and even rape. In March, the USDA Office of Inspector General released a report that showed widespread mistrust in the complaint reporting process, prompting the agency to change the way it handles sexual harassment and misconduct allegations.

“Despite taking some steps to address the problem, “alarming reports of misconduct and retaliation at the USFS persist,” Gowdy wrote.

Prior to becoming Forest Service chief, Christiansen spent more than three decades as a forester and wildland firefighter.

“I know what it means to encounter harassment and discrimination in my workplace,” she said. “I know the deep anguish it causes. I know how it feels to fear retaliation.”

Those experiences, she said, “fuel my commitment to the Forest Service.”

Christiansen on Thursday discussed progress made, and laid out her plans to further reform the agency. She said the agency has updated its anti-harassment policy and hired outside contractors to investigate allegations of sexual harassment. Additionally, Christiansen said the agency has created a Work Environment and Performance Office and plans to establish a victim advocacy and support structure.

It also launched a call center to handle harassment and abuse allegations, formed a new employee advisory group, hired case managers and is requiring all 25,000 permanent Forest Service employees to attend “listen-and-learn sessions” to discuss workplace conduct.

Shannon Reed, who said she was harassed and assaulted, then fired after she reported the abuse, shared her story at Thursday’s hearing. She said Christiansen’s plan to reform the agency doesn’t go nearly far enough.

“Chief Christiansen’s action plan is merely a check-the-box process to make the agency appear as if it is addressing sexual harassment, gender harassment, bullying and retaliation,” Reed said. She told the panel that she was forced to attend a listening session with her harassers.

“The agency is telling us to stand up and report harassment, but when we do, we are retaliated against. Chief Christiansen has not made it a safe environment for us to report harassment,” she said.

Gowdy asked USDA Inspector General Phyllis K. Fong, who also testified at the hearing, why victims and abusers would ever be in the same session.

“How in the hell can you have the perpetrator in the room with the victim?” Gowdy said. “I can’t think of anything that has a more chilling effect on someone being able to tell their story.”

“I understand your concern,” Fong said. “We want to send a very clear message in our office that if people have concerns or issues they would like to bring forward, we have multiple ways and avenues where we can help people.”

Ranking Member Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland, criticized the Forest Service for failing to fully comply with the committee’s requests for documents, citing extensive redactions and missing information.

“From the information we do have, it appears that the Forest Service still has much work to do to ensure that the victims of harassment and bullying — particularly those working in remote areas — receive the support they need when they report assault or harassment,” Cummings said. “The Committee must ensure that once investigations are completed, real reforms are made.”

Cummings also said he anticipates “developing long overdue legislation” to strengthen standards for investigating sexual misconduct allegations and “to expand transparency as much as possible while protecting privacy.”

Christiansen admitted there is still “big work to do.”

“I’d like to say I could change it in six months. But to be absolutely honest, I don’t think you change the culture of an organization that’s existed for 113 years and has 40,000 people overnight,” she said.

Prior to working for the Forest Service, Reed worked for the National Park Service, where she said she also experienced bullying, harassment and assault.

“Little did I know that transferring from the Park Service to the Forest Service was jumping from the frying pan to the fire,” she said.

At the same time in a separate hearing room on Capitol Hill, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the park service — also under fire for its handling of sexual harassment and assault claims — faced demands from senators to confront what park employees have told lawmakers is rampant abuse at national parks.

“This is really a dark cloud over our National Park Service,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican and chairwoman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, told David Vela at a committee hearing on his nomination to lead the agency. Murkowski cited a “long-term pattern of sexual harassment and hostile work environment” at the park service.

Vela, currently park chief at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, said he would hold “people and processes accountable” in dealing with widespread allegations of male colleagues and bosses preying upon and bullying female co-workers, including complaints at iconic national parks such as Grand Canyon and Yosemite.

“The scourge of sexual and workplace harassment ... at the National Park Service must stop,” Vela told lawmakers.

]]>Northwest best bet for warm winter in lower 48http://www.capitalpress.com/Water/20181116/northwest-best-bet-for-warm-winter-in-lower-48
http://www.capitalpress.com/Water/20181116/northwest-best-bet-for-warm-winter-in-lower-48#CommentsFri, 16 Nov 2018 10:52:37 -0500Don Jenkins
http://www.capitalpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2018181119921The El Nino brewing in the Pacific Ocean has yet to exert much influence on the climate, but odds remain high that winter will be warmer than normal in California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported Thursday.

For the entire U.S., the odds of a warm winter are highest in the Alaska Panhandle and Northwest, according to NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center

The chances are 50 to 60 percent that the four states will have a warm December through February. The odds of temperatures averaging below normal over the three-month period are 6 to 16 percent.

The odds slightly favor a wetter-than-normal winter for most of California and the eastern half of Idaho. The climate center sees no factor strongly influencing precipitation — wet or dry — for Washington, Oregon, western Idaho and the northern tip of California.

Sea-surface temperatures along the equator were 0.5 to 1 degree Celsius above normal in the past week, according to the center. The temperatures are in the range of a weak to borderline moderate El Nino, but the ocean conditions are still considered neutral, neither warm nor cool.

The warmer temperatures must persist to qualify as an El Nino. “The atmospheric conditions associated with a developing El Nino event remain modest at best,” according to NOAA’s written discussion on the three-month outlook.

The sea-surface temperature in the central Pacific is expected to peak in January at about 1 degree Celsius above normal, the threshold for a moderate El Nino. NOAA anticipated the ocean will slowly cool back to neutral conditions over the rest of the winter and spring.

In El Nino winters, temperatures typically are a few degrees warmer than normal. Less snow accumulates in the mountains to melt in the spring for irrigation.